book data
179 ratings,
3.77
average rating, 19 reviews
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published
January 16th 1991
by Harper Perennial
binding
Paperback, 400 pages
isbn
0060973595
(isbn13: 9780060973599)
description
This novel of turn-of-the-century white "Florida Crackers" marks a daring departure for the author famous for her complex accounts of black
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 249)
All ratings
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5 stars (47)
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4 stars (62)
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3 stars (55)
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2 stars (11)
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1 star (4)
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avg 3.77
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Like others of Zora's books, this book takes place in post civil war Florida. this fiction creates a structure to explore the nerve twitching symbiotic relationship between black and white residents as they struggle to make a living and move forward in what is a new world for both of them. best of all though, the characters are extremely complicated. Quick decisions of who is the "good" or "bad" guy will get unraveled, put back together, and unraveled again. I plan on reread...more
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Read in August, 2008
Zora Neale Hurston is some kind of genius. This novel follows one woman's innermost feelings and insecurities as she goes from an awkward teenager to a wife and a mother. The description on goodreads says that this book is about a marriage "full of love but with very little communication," but seeing as that marriage starts with rape and kidnapping, I would say I think NOT. Actually, I think this book has a real feminist lens on the feelings of powerlessness and guilt that are impos...more
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Read in January, 2007
This is Hurston's last published novel. It is also the novel that gets the least critical attention because it does not fit comfortably within the feminist or African American literary traditions. This is the most experimental of her novels. In her letters, we learn that Hurston was trying to say something about the state of marriage American society. The novel's heroine, Arvay Henson, is a challenge to readers. I think Hurston struggled to identify with her as well, which makes her occasional ...more
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03/29/09
Sharon Jessee
added it
A really odd, ejoyably so, book.
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Read in May, 2008
May 29, 2008
For the life if me I can't figure out what it is that keeps drawing me back to this book. I was craving reading it so badly this month, so Bob bought it for me for Mother's day. I'm sure I'll be back to it again.
Oct 14, 2008
Finished second reading. Still as enjoyable second time around.
Oct 9, 2007
It's not as good as Their Eyes Were Watching God, but still a great read. I just finished it last week and am already part-way through a...more
For the life if me I can't figure out what it is that keeps drawing me back to this book. I was craving reading it so badly this month, so Bob bought it for me for Mother's day. I'm sure I'll be back to it again.
Oct 14, 2008
Finished second reading. Still as enjoyable second time around.
Oct 9, 2007
It's not as good as Their Eyes Were Watching God, but still a great read. I just finished it last week and am already part-way through a...more
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Read in June, 2009
This is a beautiful book about self confidence, selfishness, love and marriage. Throughout her 20-something years of marriage, the main character, Arvay, questions whether her husband loves her. Eventually, she is forced to realize and examine the depth of his love and devotion for her, only to find that in her doubts she has failed him.
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I wish Hurston wrote more novels from a woman's perspective. Reading this along with Their Eyes Were Watching God was like having the soft insistent voices inside every woman's head be voiced aloud on paper. What amazes me is that this is such a sympathetic portrait of a poor white woman by a poor black woman.
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
hurston enthusiasts, teens and adults.
Ahh, my first Hurston novel. Seraph on the Suwanee chroncles the life of a Southern, white, married couple in the early 1900s. It started off a little slow for me. But around 50 pages or so, I started liking the novel. I hope to read more Zora Neale Hurston books in the future.
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Read in January, 1999
I felt bad for Jeromy the first time I read this book. I couldn't put it down . . . for three days I don't think I really talked to him. I loved it. I loved the ending. It has to be one of my all time favorite books.
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Read in February, 2007
I learned a little about Florida history, also about love, marriage, motherhood, and communication. An intelligent love story. The writing is poetic, absorbing, lush. Reading this book was a very enjoyable experience.
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Read in October, 2008
Would have been fantastic were it not for countless reference to woman's inferiority to man. Hard to get past that, and from the same author that made Jamie Crawford so strong in Their Eyes Were Watching God, too.
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I learned about "Florida Crackers" and about "negro" writers in the early 1900's. I also learned a little about myself. This was a very interesting book to me.
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Much love to Zora. what a creative and intellectual force she was. I think I like this better than her eyes were watching god
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Read in May, 1998
I didn't love this book when I read it in 1998, but I would like to re-read it to see if my impression has changed with time.
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A compelling story, interested to compare the main character with some of Oates female characters.
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